From software architecture to design patterns: a case study of an NFR approach

There has been extensive research on establishing a non-functional requirement (NFR) framework (Chung et al., 2000) and applying it systematically in selecting software architectural design alternatives. However there is still a gap between software architecture and concrete detailed design. This paper presents a way to come up with more detailed designs by selecting a set of applicable design patterns. The method in selecting design patterns is applied step by step systematically in a defined process. After a preliminary selection of a set of potentially applicable design patterns based on existing knowledge, analysis of their applicability is conducted on each of the design patterns. In each analysis process, the potentially applicable design pattern and the chosen architectural design are decomposed; the traceability from software architecture to design patterns is analyzed. This method is applied in the case study on keyword in context system (KWIC) (Shaw and Garlan, 1996) and (Chung et al., 2000). The notation of NFR approach (Chung et al., 2003) is further refined.